Festival of the Sound asks town to fund opening weekend

Huntsville Forester

PARRY SOUND – The Festival of the Sound wants the town to sponsor its opening weekend in 2013.
Earlier this month, festival executive director Jennifer McGillivray made a deputation to town council.
“We have always had world-class musicians come to Parry Sound and having the Stockey Centre there for us just provides them with the venue that is equal to the kind of performances they are giving,” said McGillivray about the event, adding that the organization conducted an audience survey this past summer.
“We discovered that 57 per cent of our audience were visiting from out of town and another 26 per cent were seasonal residents of the area. What that means is a whopping 86 per cent of our patrons come from away,” she said. “What that means is that 9,960 tickets were sold to tourists and seasonal residents, that right there is over $200,000 in revenue coming directly into the local economy though the Festival of the Sound.”
Of those who attended the Festival of the Sound, 75 per cent said they visit local restaurants, stay in local hotels and shop downtown.
“I hear so many people talk about how wonderful the local shops and restaurants are. We’re really working to make sure the tourist dollars from those seasonal residents are focused right here in Parry Sound,” she said. “Of course, we can’t do this without a lot of generous support. We rely heavily on individual, as well as corporate donations as well as grants from all levels of government. I always say, when I’m making these presentations, the model is one-third, one-third, one-third. One-third of our money comes from ticket sales, one-third of our money comes from private, individual and corporate donations, and one-third of our money comes from all levels of government support. The most key level of support is municipal support, because unless the province and country can see that the municipality is behind us, they’re going to wonder what it is that we have to say.”
The twice-annual Music Scores program brings classical music to more than 700 children across the area, McGillivray said.
“We send professional musicians into classrooms and do a 40-minute presentations to the students in Grades 4 through 6 and then all of those students are bussed, on our dime, over to the Charles W. Stockey Centre, to experience a live, professional performance,” she said.
In 2013, the organization will be focusing on community outreach.
“We’re really going to be branching out to a community day session that will be held at the Bobby Orr Community Centre in May. This is a day of outreach really. This is about making sure that all groups in the community are able to come together. We’ve invited the library, the horticultural society, the YMCA to join us – a big old-fashioned rummage sale, a spaghetti dinner – just get everyone together and talking about what makes this town great,” she said. “They love Parry Sound. They love the real sense of community that they feel here. They come back year after year because they feel like they are a part of this community as well.”

$5,000 sponsorship

McGillivray asked the town to consider financially supporting a weekend of the Festival of the Sound for $5,000.
“We would love to see the town that has hosted our festival every year for the past 34 years step up and be the official sponsor of our opening weekend. This is the biggest weekend of the festival. This year we will be involving professional groups from around the world as well as local, community players on opening night. I think it’s a wonderful place for the town to get involved. Sponsoring means visibility and it shows your constituents that the town has made a commitment to the local and regional economy.”
The town will consider McGillivray’s request at a future meeting.